Organised Interests, Authority Structures and Political Influence: Danish and Norwegian Patient Groups Compared Ståle Opedal, Hilmar Rommetvedt* and Karsten Vrangbæk The article presents a comparative analysis of the strategies applied by Danish and Norwegian patient organisations and organisations for disabled persons in order to promote the interests of their members. Three research questions are addressed: Are Danish and Norwegian patient organisations service organisations operating according to a ‘logic of membership’ or political pressure groups acting according to a ‘logic of influence’? Do patient organisations apply ‘insider’ or ‘outsider’ strategies in their efforts to influence healthcare policies? What impact do different authority structures have on the patient organisations’ influencing strategies? The latter question is related to recent reforms in the public healthcare systems of the two coun- tries. The major responsibility for public hospitals now rests with regional authorities in Denmark and central government in Norway.The study is based on a survey among nationwide patient organisations in the two countries and shows that most patient groups are ‘polyvalent’ ‘venue shoppers’ combining a variety of influencing strategies. Introduction The need for medical treatment and healthcare is one of the most urgent challenges facing the welfare state. In 2007, healthcare represented 27 and 30 percent, respectively, of the total public consumption in Denmark and Norway. 1 Patient rights have been on the agenda in all the Nordic countries and the European Union over the past decade (Winblad & Ringard 2009). Patient organisations have been at the forefront of such debates, and are generally becoming more important as participants in policy processes throughout Europe. In this article we analyse Danish and Norwegian patient organisations and organisations for disabled people and their efforts to promote their members’ interests and influence healthcare policy. In general, comparative studies of healthcare policy tend to neglect the role of organised interests (Blank & Burau 2007). Some attention has been paid to medical associations and nurses’ associations, and the former are * Hilmar Rommetvedt, International Research Institute of Stavanger (IRIS), PO Box 8046, N-4068 Stavanger, Norway. E-mail: hr@iris.no ISSN 0080–6757 Doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9477.2011.00274.x © 2011 The Author(s) Scandinavian Political Studies © 2011 Nordic Political Science Association Scandinavian Political Studies,Vol. 35 – No. 1, 2012 1